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Aphrodite
|roman = Venus |consort = Hephaestus, Ares, Poseidon, Hermes, Dionysus, Adonis, and Anchises |par = OuranosHesiod, Theogony, 188 or Zeus and DioneHomer, Iliad 5.370 |sib = The Tree Nymphs, The Furies and The Gigantes |children = Eros,Eros is usually mentioned as the son of Aphrodite but in other versions he is born out of Chaos Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, Pothos, Anteros, Himeros, Hermaphroditos, Rhode, Eryx, Peitho, Tyche, Eunomia, The Graces, Priapus and Aeneas |sym = Dolphin, Rose, Scallop Shell, Myrtle, Dove, Sparrow, Girdle, Mirror, and Swan |abode = Mount Olympus |pronun = ah-froh-DIE-tee |link1 = Theoi.com |link2 = New World Encyclopedia |link3 = Encyclopedia Mythica |link4 = Britannica |link5 = Wikipedia }} In Greek mythology, Aphrodite was the great Olympian goddess of love, beauty, and desire, as well as the patron of physical attraction and sexual desire. She was also the innate desire and the personification of lust. Her favour could bring about sexual attraction, whereas her wrath led to unnatural desires like bestiality. The Egyptians associated her with their goddess Hathor,Reginald Eldred Witt, Isis in the ancient world (Johns Hopkins University Press) 1997:125. ISBN 0-8018-5642-6 while the Romans equated her with their goddess Venus. While the Greeks envisioned her as the proud and vain goddess of beauty, the Romans saw her as the stern ancestress of their state. According to Hesiod, she was born when Kronos severed his father Ouranos' genitals and threw them in the sea, and she arose from the sea foam (aphros); for this reason she was called "foam-risen". According to Homer's Iliad, however, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. After her birth, Zeus was afraid that the gods would fight over Aphrodite's hand in marriage so he married her off to the smith god Hephaestus, the steadiest of the gods. He could hardly believe his good luck and used all his skills to make the most lavish jewels for her. He made her a girdle of finely wrought gold and wove magic into the filigree work. That was not very wise of him, for when she wore her magic girdle no one could resist her, and she was all too irresistible already. She loved gaiety and glamour and was not at all pleased at being the wife of sooty, hard-working Hephaestus. Aphrodite was often symbolized by the sea, dolphins, doves, swans, pomegranates, apples, myrtle, rose, sparrows, and lime trees. She loved and was loved by many gods and mortals. Among her mortal lovers, the most famous was perhaps Adonis. Some of her sons are Eros, Anteros, Hymenaios and Aeneas (with her Trojan lover Anchises). She is accompanied by the Graces. Name Etymology In popular etymology, the name Ἀφροδίτη was connected to ἀφρός (meaning "foam"), and interpreted it as "risen from the foam," alluding to the etiological myth of Aphrodite's creation described in Hesiod's Theogony.Hesiod, Theogony, 176ffThe name has reflexes in Messapic and Etruscan (whence April), which were probably loaned from Greek. Though Herodotus was aware of the Phoenician origins of Aphrodite,Herodotus, Histories, I.105 and 131.linguistic attempts to derive the name from Semitic Aštoret, via undocumented Hittite transmission, remain inconclusive. A suggestion by Hammarström, rejected by Hjalmar Frisk, connects the name with πρύτανις, a loan word introduced to Greek from a cognate of Etruscan (e)pruni, or "lord." It is likely that Aphrodite's mythological origins derive from a number of Indo-European and Near Eastern goddesses. Aphrodite has numerous counterparts in legends of surrounding cultures, including Inanna among the Sumerians, Ishtar among the Mesopotamians, Hathor in the Ancient Egypt, Ashtart or Astarte among the Syro-Palestinians, and Turan in Etruscan mythology. Like Aphrodite, each of these goddesses is described as a beautiful female with jurisdiction over love, sexuality, fertility, and sacred prostitution. Herodotus recorded that at Aphrodite's oldest foreign temple in the Syrian city of Ascalon, she was known as Ourania. Pausanias confirms this idea, suggesting that the cult to Aphrodite located at Cythera came from the Phonecians at Ascalon. The fact that one of Aphrodite's chief centers of worship remained on the south-western coast of Cyprus, where the goddess of desire had long been worshiped as Ishtar and Ashtaroth, may suggest the transmission of Aphrodite's original cult from Phoenicia to Cyprus and then mainland Greece. By the late fifth century, philosophers and historians seem to have separated this older Phoenician Aphrodite Ourania from Aphrodite Pandemos, the Aphrodite "of the common people." The former was typically thought to be born from the foam after Cronus castrated Uranus, while the latter was thought to be born from the union of Zeus and Dione. In Plato's Symposium, Aphrodite Pandemos ("common" Aphrodite) is said to reign over primal love, while Aphrodite Ourania ("heavenly" Aphrodite) presides over a higher form of spiritual love. Although the two were distinct, they were ultimately one and the same goddess. Worship Aphrodite was honored at numerous cult sites and shrines throughout Greece. These sites were typically located in more accessible locales in the cities, suggesting her status as a god of the people. This notion is furthered by the evidence which suggests she was worshiped in a highly personal, intimate fashion, and that most temples dedicated to her were modest in architecture. The most common theme in her worship was that of sexual union, whether it was between common citizens, brides and bridegrooms, or prostitutes and customers, among others. Aphrodite Pandemos Based on the remains of a cult site to Aphrodite which can be found on the southwest slope of the Athenian Acropolis, the aspect of Aphrodite labeled Aphrodite Pandemos seems to be indelibly linked with the commoners of Athens. Blessings of this deity were sought to unite the people of Athens socially and politically. Aphrodite Pandemos was commonly depicted with Peitho, the personification of persuasion, which may suggest her political significance. Evidence from imagery found at a number of sites also indicates that Aphrodite Pandemos was closely tied to the wedding ritual. Thus, her association with unions seems to extend past the political realm and into that between individuals, as well. This may also suggest the importance of marriage in stabilizing Athenian democracy. Aphrodite and Peitho had a festival of their own, the Aphrodisia, which was celebrated all over Greece but particularly in Athens and Corinth. It probably took place during the fourth day of Hekatombaion, just after the beginning of the Attic year. As with other celebrations dedicated to Aphrodite, the festival involved the gathering together of people from a variety of different classes and allowing them to coalesce as a unified whole, with many inequities of social status dissolved. For example, sexual services became available to all classes. In Corinth, the aspect of sexuality was particularly salient in this festival, as intercourse with priestesses of Aphrodite was considered an acceptable means for providing worship to the goddess. Aphrodite Ourania Major shrines were built at Cyprus, Cythera, and Corinth for the aspect of the goddess labeled as Aphrodite Ourania. Many other worship centers of a smaller magnitude were dedicated to Aphrodite Ourania all throughout Greece. The cult in Athens is located at the northwest corner of the bustling Agora. Here, the altar to Aphrodite Ourania was placed in a very prominent location, in close proximity to the average Athenian. Considering the number of worship centers and the importance of the altars dedicated to her, it seems that Aphrodite Ourania was the more prevalent aspect of the goddess. Iconography of Aphrodite Ourania suggests another connection to weddings. Votive reliefs related to Aphrodite Ourania found in the Agora distinctively highlight the use of the ladder, which appears in many vase paintings with nuptial themes. New brides of the Athenian cult often called upon Aphrodite for assistance during their wedding ceremonies and on their wedding nights, and the ladders seem to suggest that Aphrodite offers safe passage from virginity to life as a wife. Wives and prostitutes alike seem to have worshiped Aphrodite Ourania at the Agora, suggesting that Aphrodite Ouranias was consulted by all women so that she would watch over their relationships with men. Rachel Rozenweig suggests that, more generally, these ladders may have represented a symbolic means by which to link Aphrodite to smooth transitions from one phase of life to another, including that between virgin and bride, and from the realm of everyday life to the realm of cult, among others. Moreover, these ladders further the notion that Aphrodite Ouranias had a cultic role as a goddess of unity, bridging gaps and bringing people together in harmony, whether it be bride and bridegroom or prostitute and customer. Aphrodite of the Garden Aphrodite was often given the epithet en Kepois, or "in the gardens," which more likely links her to fertility than it does to a specific location of worship. This role of goddess of vegetation was most evident at the north slope of the Acropolis and at Daphni, two open-air cult sites in Athens linked by rock-cut inscriptions venerating Aphrodite. These sites suggest that Aphrodite's divine intervention was particularly sought after in manners concerning fertility. The cult site on the north slope of the Acropolis contains many terra-cotta figurines representing maidens, small-boys and sleeping babies. A number of votives in the forms of male and female reproductive organs have also been found here, indicating that Aphrodite provided help with fertility. Similar votives were found at the Daphni cult site. Considering Aphrodite's associations with nuptial imagery, these fertility shrines most likely played a role in the wedding ritual. In mythology Birth According to Greek Mythology, Aphrodite was born from the foam of the sea shore near Paphos, Cyprus. This miraculous creation resulted after Kronos castrated his father, Ouranos. It is said that Kronos cut off Ouranos' genitals and threw them into the sea. As the genitals drifted over the water, the blood and/or semen that issued forth from the severed flesh set in motion the growth of the child who would become Aphrodite. However, the Iliad (Book V) provides another explanation of Aphrodite's origin, in which she was considered a daughter of Dione, the original oracular goddess at Dodona ("Dione" meaning quite simply "the goddess," the feminine form of Δíος, "Dios," the genitive of Zeus). "Dione" seems to be an equivalent of Rhea, the Earth Mother, whom Homer relocated to Olympus, and refers back to a hypothesized original Proto-Indo-European pantheon, with the chief male god (Di-) represented by the sky and thunder, and the chief female god (feminine form of Di-) represented by the earth or the fertile soil. Aphrodite herself was sometimes referred to as "Dione." Once the worship of Zeus had surpassed the oak-grove oracle at Dodona in popularity, some poets made him out to be the father of Aphrodite. Alternatively, Aphrodite was said to be a daughter of Zeus and Thalassa, a primordial sea goddess, since she was born of the Sea. Adulthood Aphrodite is consistently portrayed, in every image and story, as having had no childhood, and instead being born as a nubile, infinitely desirable adult. She is often depicted nude. In many of the later myths, she is portrayed as vain, ill-tempered and easily offended. Although she is married—she is one of the few gods in the Greek Pantheon who is—she is frequently unfaithful to her husband. Aphrodite's husband Hephaestus is one of the most even-tempered of the Hellenic deities, but in the Odyssey she is portrayed as preferring Ares, the volatile god of war because she is attracted to his violent nature. Aphrodite is one of a few characters in the Odyssey whose actions are a major contributing cause of the Trojan War: she offers Helen of Troy to Paris, and as the goddess of desire, she is responsible for Paris becoming so inflamed with desire for Helen at first sight that he is moved to abduct her. According to one version of Aphrodite's story, because of her immense beauty Zeus fears that the other gods will become violent with each other in their rivalry to possess her. To forestall this, he forces her to marry Hephaestus, the dour, humorless god of smithing. In another version of the story, Aphrodite marries Hephaestus after his mother, Hera casts him off Olympus, deeming him too ugly and deformed to inhabit the home of the gods. His revenge is to trap his mother in a magic throne. In return for her release, he demands to be given Aphrodite's hand in marriage. Hephaestus is overjoyed to be married to the goddess of beauty, and forges her beautiful jewelry, including the cestus, a girdle that makes her even more irresistible to men. Her unhappiness with her marriage causes Aphrodite to seek other male companionship, most often Ares, but also sometimes Adonis. Psyche Aphrodite figures as a secondary character in the Tale of Eros and Psyche, which first appeared as a digressive story told by an old woman in Lucius Apuleius' novel, The Golden Ass, written in the second century AD. In it, Aphrodite was jealous of the beauty of a mortal woman named Psyche. She asked Eros to use his golden arrows to cause Psyche to fall in love with the ugliest man on earth. Eros agreed, but then fell in love with Psyche on his own, by accidentally pricking himself with a golden arrow. Meanwhile, Psyche's parents were anxious for their daughter to remain unmarried. They consulted an oracle, who told them she was destined for no mortal lover, but a creature that lived on top of a particular mountain, that even the gods themselves feared. Eros had arranged for the oracle to say this. Psyche was resigned to her fate and climbed to the top of the mountain. She told the townsfolk who followed her to leave and let her face her fate on her own. There, Zephyrus, the west wind, gently floated her downwards. She entered a cave on the appointed mountain, surprised to find it full of jewelry and finery. Eros visited her every night in the cave and they made passionate love; he demanded only that she never light any lamps because he did not want her to know who he was (having wings made him distinctive). Her two sisters, jealous of Psyche, convinced her that her husband was a monster, and she should strike him with a dagger. So one night she lit a lamp, but recognizing Eros instantly, she dropped her dagger. Oil spilled from the lamp onto his shoulder, awaking him, and he fled, saying, "Love cannot live where there is no trust!" When Psyche told her two jealous elder sisters what had happened, they rejoiced secretly and each separately walked to the top of the mountain and did as Psyche described her entry to the cave, hoping Eros would pick them, instead. Eros was still heartbroken and did not pick them and they fell to their deaths at the base of the mountain. Psyche searched for her love across much of Greece, finally stumbling into a temple to Demeter, where the floor was covered with piles of mixed grains. She started sorting the grains into organized piles and, when she finished, Demeter spoke to her, telling her that the best way to find Eros was to find his mother, Aphrodite, and earn her blessing. Psyche found a temple to Aphrodite and entered it. Aphrodite assigned her a similar task to Demeter's temple, but gave her an impossible deadline to finish it. Eros intervened, for he still loved her, and caused some ants to organize the grains for her. Aphrodite was outraged at her success and told her to go to a field where deadly golden sheep grazed and get some golden wool. Psyche went to the field and saw the sheep, but was stopped by a river-god, whose river she had to cross to enter the field. He told her the sheep were mean and vicious and would kill her, but if she waited until noontime, the sheep would go into the shade on the other side of the field and sleep; she could pick the wool that stuck to the branches and bark of the trees. Psyche did so and Aphrodite was even more outraged at her survival and success. Finally, Aphrodite claimed the stress of caring for her son, depressed and ill as a result of Psyche's unfaithfulness, had caused her to lose some of her beauty. Psyche was to go to Hades and ask Persephone, the queen of the underworld, for a bit of her beauty in a black box that Aphrodite gave to Psyche. Psyche walked to a tower, deciding the quickest way to the underworld would be to die. A voice stopped her at the last moment and told her a route that would allow her to enter and return still living, as well as telling her how to pass the three-headed dog Cerberus, Charon and the other dangers of the route. She was to not lend a hand to anyone in need. She baked two barley cakes for Cerberus, and took two coins for Charon. She pacified Cerberus with the barley cake and paid Charon to take her to Hades. On the way there, she saw hands reaching out of the water. A voice told her to toss a barley cake to them. She refused. Once there, Persephone said she would be glad to do Aphrodite a favor. She once more paid Charon, and gave the other barley cake to Cerberus. Psyche left the underworld and decided to open the box and take a little bit of the beauty for herself, thinking that if she did so, Eros would surely love her. Inside was a "Stygian sleep", which overtook her. Eros, who had forgiven her, flew to her body and wiped the sleep from her eyes, then begged Zeus and Aphrodite for their consent to his wedding of Psyche. They agreed and Zeus made her immortal. Aphrodite danced at the wedding of Eros and Psyche, and their subsequent child was named Hedone, or Voluptas in Roman mythology. Adonis Aphrodite was Adonis' lover and a surrogate mother to him. Cinyras, the King of Cyprus, had an intoxicatingly beautiful daughter named Myrrha. When Myrrha's mother commits hubris against Aphrodite by claiming her daughter is more beautiful than the famed goddess, Myrrha is punished with a never-ending lust for her own father. Cinyras is repulsed by this, but Myrrha disguises herself as a prostitute, and secretly sleeps with her father at night. Eventually, Myrrha becomes pregnant and is discovered by Cinyras. In a rage, he chases her out of the house with a knife. Myrrha flees from him, praying to the gods for mercy as she runs. The gods hear her plea, and change her into a myrrh tree so her father cannot kill her. Eventually, Cinyras takes his own life in an attempt to restore the family's honor. Myrrha gives birth to a baby boy named Adonis. Aphrodite happens by the myrrh tree and, seeing him, takes pity on the infant. She places Adonis in a box, and takes him down to Hades so Persephone can care for him. Adonis grows into a strikingly handsome young man, and Aphrodite eventually returns for him. Persephone, however, is loath to give him up, and wishes Adonis would stay with her in the underworld. The two goddesses begin such a quarrel, Zeus is forced to intercede. He decrees that Adonis will spend a third of the year with Aphrodite, a third of the year with Persephone, and a third of the year with whomever he wishes. Adonis, of course, chooses Aphrodite. Adonis begins his year on the earth with Aphrodite. One of his greatest passions is hunting, and although Aphrodite is not naturally a hunter, she takes up the sport just so she can be with him. They spend every waking hour with one another, and Aphrodite is enraptured with him. However, her anxiety begins to grow over her neglected duties, and she is forced to leave him for a short time. Before she leaves, she gives Adonis one warning: do not attack an animal which shows no fear. Adonis agrees to her advice, but, secretly doubting her skills as a huntress, quickly forgets her warning. Not long after Aphrodite leaves, Adonis comes across an enormous wild boar, much larger than any he has ever seen. It is suggested that the boar is the god Ares, one of Aphrodite's lovers made jealous through her constant doting on Adonis. Although boars are dangerous and will charge a hunter if provoked, Adonis disregards Aphrodite's warning and pursues the giant creature. Soon, however, Adonis is the one being pursued; he is no match for the giant boar. In the attack, Adonis is castrated by the boar, and dies from a loss of blood. Aphrodite rushes back to his side, but she is too late to save him and can only mourn over his body. Wherever Adonis' blood falls, Aphrodite causes anemones to grow in his memory. She vows that on the anniversary of his death, every year there will be a festival held in his honor. On his death, Adonis goes back to the underworld, and Persephone is delighted to see him again. Eventually, Aphrodite realizes he is there, and rushes back to retrieve him. Again, she and Persephone bicker over who is allowed to keep Adonis until Zeus intervenes. This time, he says Adonis must spend six months with Aphrodite and six months with Persephone, the way it should have been in the first place. The Judgement of Paris The gods and goddesses, as well as various mortals, were invited to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis (the eventual parents of Achilles). Only the goddess Eris (Discord) was not invited, but she arrived with a golden apple inscribed with the word kallistēi ("to the fairest one"), which she threw among the goddesses. Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed to be the fairest, and thus the rightful owner of the apple. The goddesses chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to favor one of the goddesses, put the choice into the hands of Paris. After bathing in the spring of Mount Ida (where Troy was situated), the goddesses appeared before Paris. Paris, having been given permission by Zeus to set any conditions he saw fit, required the goddesses to undress and allow him to see them naked. (Another version of the myth says the goddesses themselves chose to undress.) Still, Paris could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so the goddesses resorted to bribes. Hera tried to bribe Paris with control over all Asia and Europe, while Athena offered wisdom, fame, and glory in battle, and Aphrodite offered the most beautiful mortal woman in the world as a wife, and he accordingly chose her. This woman was Helen, who was, unfortunately for Paris, already married to King Menelaus of Sparta. The other two goddesses were enraged by this, and through Helen's abduction by Paris, they brought about the Trojan War. Pygmalion and Galatea Pygmalion was a sculptor who had never found a woman worthy of his love. Aphrodite took pity on him and decided to show him the wonders of love. One day, Pygmalion was inspired by a dream of Aphrodite to make a woman out of ivory resembling her image, and he called her Galatea. He fell in love with the statue and decided he could not live without her. He prayed to Aphrodite, who carried out the final phase of her plan and brought the exquisite sculpture to life. Pygmalion loved Galatea and they were soon married. Another version of this myth tells that the women of the village where Pygmalion lived grew angry that he had not married. They asked Aphrodite to force him to marry. Aphrodite agreed and went that very night to Pygmalion, and asked him to pick a woman to marry. She told him that if he did not pick one, she would do so for him. Not wanting to be married, he begged her for more time, asking that he be allowed to make a sculpture of Aphrodite before he had to choose his bride. Flattered, she accepted. Pygmalion spent a lot of time making small clay sculptures of the goddess, claiming it was needed so he could pick the right pose. As he started making the actual sculpture he was shocked to discover he actually wanted to finish, even though he knew he would have to marry someone when he finished. The reason he wanted to finish it was he had fallen in love with the sculpture. The more he worked on it, the more it changed, until it no longer resembled Aphrodite at all. At the very moment Pygmalion stepped away from the finished sculpture, Aphrodite appeared and told him to choose his bride. Pygmalion chose the statue. Aphrodite told him that could not be, and asked him again to choose a bride. Pygmalion put his arms around the statue, and asked Aphrodite to turn him into a statue so he could be with her. Aphrodite took pity on him and brought the statue to life instead. Consorts and Children #Hephaestus #Ares ##Phobos ##Deimos ##Harmonia ##Adrestia (or Adrasteia (nymph) or Adrasteia (goddess)) ##The Erotes ###Eros ###Anteros ###Himeros ###Pothos #Poseidon ##Rhode #Hermes ##Tyche ##Peitho ##Eunomia ##Hermaphroditos #Dionysus ##The Charites (Graces) ###Thalia ###Euphrosyne ###Aglaea ##Priapus #Adonis ##Beroe #Phaethon (son of Eos) ##Astynoos #Anchises ##Aeneas ##Lyrus #Butes ##Eryx #unknown father ##Meligounis + several more unnamed daughtersHesychius of Alexandria s. v. Μελιγουνίς: "Meligounis: this is what the island Lipara was called. Also one of the daughters of Aphrodite." In modern culture Books *Aphrodite appeared in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Potrayal Aphrodite was depicted as a beautiful woman usually accompanied by the winged godling Eros (Love). In classical sculpture and fresco she was often depicted nude. Attributes Chariot Aphrodite's jewel-encrusted, golden chariot was drawn through the sky by a team of doves. *Aphrodite was a goddess of the sea as well as the heavens, and according to one author, she possessed a sea-going chariot drawn by fish-tailed Tritons. Clothing and Jewellery Aphrodite clothed herself in rich, brightly-coloured clothing and adorned herself with fabulous jewellery. Magic Girdle The magical girdle (or cestus) of Aphrodite was woven with the irrestistable powers of love and desire by Hephaestus. Fauna *The affectionate white or turtle-dove was the bird of love, was a bird sacred to the goddess Aphrodite. Doves were said to draw her heavenly chariot, and the Syrian Aphrodite Ashtarte was said to have been hatched from an egg nursed by doves. *The white goose was sacred to Aphrodite. She was often depicted riding one side-saddle. *The sparrow was a bird sacred to the goddess Aphrodite. Gallery AphroditeStatue.jpg File:Aphrodite.jpg| References